A Russian court has suspended a two and a half year jail sentence imposed against an 18-year-old youth for vandalizing Jewish graves in May and June, according to the Russian Jewish web site Sem40.ru.

The youth was convicted of "mockery over the bodies of the dead and their burial motivated by ethnic hatred" rather than just "hooliganism." He admitted to a friend that he "doesn't like Jews" and prosecutors pointed out that he singled out Jewish graves for vandalism, while ignoring others.